The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

I love James Patterson's YA series Maximum Ride, so when I saw he came out with another Young Adult title, I had to read it. The comparison is kind of horrific.

Daniel X is an alien hunter. He has the rare power to create, such as morphing or controlling objects, or even making them solely from his mind. Daniel's going down The List of aliens wreaking havoc on Earth, finding and killing them all. And he's heading towards the top, where the most deadly and dangerous aliens await. Including the one that killed his parents.

Meh. I listened to this on audiobook (narrated by Milo Ventimiglia), and read along with it. The story idea was interesting, and I had fun reading it, but it lacked a lot of believability. The main character wasn't developed well, and I couldn't find a likability factor in him at all. He seemed way too immature, which I hatehatehate in YA books. Don't dumb a character down, and please (please!) don't make jokes a 5-year-old would laugh at. Teenagers don't find them funny.

I did like that Daniel loved elephants, and there was a scene towards the end (including the big grey fellas) that I adored. It reminded me of The Nature of Jade, one of my favorite books. Which, um, I can't believe I just added into this review. But honestly, a little detail like that can really add to a story.

I heard* that James Patterson wrote this book specifically for his son, which I think is slightly redeeming. He really does do a lot to help get kids to read, like his site Read, Kiddo, Read. But I think this helps explain some things. His son is a lot younger than the marketed audience, and I don't really think this should be promoted as Young Adult. Lower MG would probably suit it a lot better.

I'll most likely read the sequel, but I was just disappointed in this one. If you read it, don't let it discourage you from Maximum Ride. Because that series totally kicks ass.

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*but I didn't do my research, so who knows?

Nonfiction

I'm not big on nonfiction. I think it's because I'm just so into YA that I rarely venture off into other age-groups. And there isn't a ton of great YA nonfiction (that I've found, at least). The Year We Disappeared by Cindy and John Busby was one I checked out a while ago and ended up really liking, though, so I think it's just a matter of finding the right book.

Because I'm such a fiction junkie, I like nonfiction that reads like a story. I don't want something told to me in facts - I want it to be presented as the main characters saw it. So, basically, nonfiction that sounds like fiction. Maybe I'm just not too big on the genre.

Anyway, I'm writing this post to find out about any YA nonfiction titles you've heard or read about. I'm trying to get into more branches of Young Adult that you don't usually see or read about. I might even try some varied religious fiction, (wicca, Christian, whatever), just to expand my horizons. And I definitely need to read more classics. *sigh*

But right now I'm trying to focus on nonfiction. So. Do any of you have any good recommendations?

Also, as a side note - the big Simply Irresistible contest ends on July 20th, when I'll kick-start my new weekly contests again! (and hopefully for a longer period this time.)

ALA - all in one.

ALA was fun. I'll probably make a vlog later to show you all the goodies I got/bought, but for now, we'll focus on the authors.

The first one we spotted was Cindy Pon, and we ended up stalking her through both days of ALA. We met her, introduced ourselves, got a picture, and reluctantly went on our way. Kristi and I noticed John Green standing right next to us, but we fangirled in semi-silence. Except K got a picture of his back.

John ended up being at a signing later that day. We were in line for another author who we were either too late or too early for, when a publisher asked if we were in line for John Green. "Now we are!" I bought An Abundance of Katherines because I hadn't read it yet. He was incredibly nice, and talked a bit to everyone in line.

I got a copy of Geektastic, which also has a story by John Green in it (among many other authors), and had it signed by Holly Black (!) We went back to see Cindy Pon again, and they had 4 authors set up to sign! Cindy was signing hardbacks of Silver Phoenix (I only had an ARC, so !),
Kathryn Fitzmaurice was signing The Year the Swallows Came Early, Amy Huntley had copies of The Everafter, and David Macinnis Gill with Soul Enchilada. I've been wanting to read them all, so it was almost creepy how lucky we were. We spotted Lisa Schroeder (Far From You) in line, and David helped us try and get her attention. But even our combined group yell didn't phase her. We got to meet her at the end, though, and she was incredibly sweet. I was totally freaking out inside. But she's an avid pen stealer, so watch out. :)

We met Simone Elkeles, and the ever-generous (except when she's stealing books) Kristi gave me her extra copy of Perfect Chemistry. Every time I pick up that book, I think of the hilarious trailer. Cracks me up. Anyway, I can't wait to read that! Simone signed my autograph book and gave us some tshirts.

Maggie Stiefvater was signing and I got a free copy of Lament. I've really been wanting to read it, so I totally scored there. I was in the middle of Shiver before I left, too. Flux is such a great publishing company - I've been really impressed with all their YA. And we talked to some of the marketers in line, and they were really nice and funny. They brought out a tshirt that said "What the Flux?" How genius is that?

On Saturday night we went to a Laurie Halse Anderson and Sarah Dessen signing at Anderson's bookstore. I was totally in awe of them! LHA is my all-time favorite writer, and she was so cool and intelligent - and super down-to-earth. She wore these awesome bright orange shoes with leopard print down the center. I mean, seriously? How awesome can you freaking get? I bought Chains, which is the only book by her I haven't read. She signed it with "Books free minds!", and Wintergirls with a lovely "Taste life!" *sigh* I totally love her. And my friend Emili totally stole Along for the Ride, (what is it with people stealing books from me?) so I didn't have anything but my autograph book to get signed by Dessen. I felt ruuuude.

On Sunday, I got to meet Stephanie Kuehnert! She was totally awesome. And I got to see her new tattoo in person (I think she just made a vlog about it.) LOVE it! And her! She's so awesome. And I bought a final copy of Ballads of Suburbia for her to sign. The ARC I had didn't have a cover, so I missed out on the ducky. Anyway, it was great meeting her. One of the biggest highlights of the trip.

Then, while we were waiting in line at Scholastic for a multiple-author signing, Sarah Ockler calls. And comes in line with us! (!!!!!) I was totally giddy. I loved Twenty Boy Summer, and she told us a little bit about the new book she's working on, which sounds equally amazing. She signed my autograph book with "Never stop searching for the red piece!" Another genius one, for those who've read the book. We also waited in line with Kristen , another blogger. We met a couple other bloggers (Andrea and Sarah Bean) - they were all freaking awesome! Sarah was totally cute, Kristen was fun, and Andrea was super nice. It was so great to meet some fellow bloggers! Other than Kristi. Bleck. (seriously, though, Kristi is way awesome, too! I loved hanging out with her.)

I met Kimberly Pauley (Sucks to be Me), and her adorable kid. Kimberly is such a sweet, cute person. Her and Kay Cassidy - who I talked to on both days, and had a lot of fun chatting with - were probably two of the nicest people there. But everyone was really fun! (And funny. The comedic award is tied between Garret Freyman-Weyr and David Macinnis Gill.)

I also got books signed by Melina Marchetta, E Lockhart, Kristina Springer (The Espressologist, which sounds totally cute!), Janet Lee Carey (for Stealing Death), Kate Messner (The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z), Garret Freyman-Weyr (Stay With Me), Julia Keller (Back Home, which I'm really excited to read), Lise Haines (Girl in the Arena), and many others I didn't get pictures with. But I'll detail more on those (and others) in my IMM vlog later this week.

And we may have stalked Cindy into her cab. Possibly. And at lunch the next day. And in line. Just maybe. Or maybe she was stalking us. Either way, we ran into her a lot. We started a fan club, if you want to join...

:) And that was my trip! I still have aches and pains, but it was so beyond worth it.

And I'm gone...

I'm leaving now for ALA, with a little under 2 hours of sleep. I'm very zombielike at the moment. But I'll get about 7 gallons of coffee in me, and hopefully be able to be my usual charming, chipper, witty self. If not, I'll just blame it on the lack of sleep. Because that would obviously be why.

I'll be back to report everything - I'm really, really excited!

My shoulder is gonna be aching from all the books I'm about to lug around in that big ol' tote bag I made. Oh boy. I'll probably come back with battle injuries (it's Chicago!), but it'll be worth it.

I started about a billion books to finish before I left, but I got about zero of them read. I'm in the middle of all of them, though! Go me! I don't think I've ever read this many books at once - (this is including Shiver, Silver Phoenix, Get Well Soon, Ballads of Suburbia, Simply Irresistible, and others).

Can you guys read 25725 books at once and not confuse the storylines, or are you usually a one-book-at-a-time reader?

50 points if you answer the question. The points won't get you anything, but yay. Points rock.

See you all when I get back! Don't worry, you'll hear every last detail. :P

Interview w/ Me!

I love being interviewed. I'm a narcissist that way. And Kay Cassidy, author of The Cinderella Society, asked some really great questions of me. You should go check it out and comment - there are three truths and a lie at the bottom of the page, and if you guess the lie you get an extra entry into Kay's big contest. Go check it out!

And while you're there, check out her Teen Author Challenge. I'll definitely be taking part.

In My Mailbox - video!

Remember how I used to do IMM videos, like, forever ago? Well, I decided to start them up again, once a week. I can't guarantee a certain day of the week - I have a full house most of the time, and I don't like talking to my computer when other people are around. But one will be up every week, so you can see all the goodies I get and we can squee over them together.

So here's this weeks: (edit: um, is the sound off for anyone else? of course technology has to turn against me yet again.)

Books mentioned in this video (not in order):

-The Sweet Life of Stella Madison by Lara M Zeises
-Girl to the Core by Stacey Goldblatt
-Second Skin by Jessica Wollman
-The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy
-Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
-Crash Into Me by Albert Borris
-Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
-Alyzon Whitestarr by Isobelle Carmody
-Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Simply Irresistible - HUGE contest!

If you somehow don't already know about The Elite, here's your chance. I've been a fan since book 1, and now, (today!) Simply Irresistible hits shelves. It's book three in a to-die-for series; a fun, upper-class NYC read, but with a big ol' dose of depth. Light and meaningful. Definitely a scrumptious read for the palate.

So, to celebrate, I'm hosting a big (big!) contest to kick-start my weekly contests again. I think I'm finally getting a job, so I'm ready to pass on some good reads.

This particular contest will run for two weeks, though, so check back on July 20th to see the winners!

But I should probably talk about the prizes, put together by the generous Jennifer Banash and I. Right? Here we go.

-$35 gift card to Free People
-Gossip Girl season 2 (pre-ordered - it will be shipped to your house when it comes out)
-Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott
-Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott
-A (totally stylish) bamboo address book
-Bookmarks

So, you want to enter? Comment. But you can earn extra entries, too!

+1 for telling us what makes a guy/girl Simply Irresistible to you
+2 for following Jennifer Banash's blog
+3 for embedding the Simply Irresistible trailer onto your blog or website.

(And, personally, I'm reading SI now and I think it's the best of the bunch! Totally worth a buy.) Get commenting!